Training Day Two: Who wants to role-play?

Today was all about role-playing. First thing in the morning, this was the last thing anyone wanted to hear. All I got in response to “Volunteers?” was 20 people trying to hide behind tiny coffee mugs and doing everything possible to not make eye contact with me.

But, by the middle of the day, everyone was sitting on the edges of their seats, eager to ‘tag in’ when they saw an opportunity to demonstrate their stuff.

Two of our coaches practicing a role-play in front of the group.

And, by the end of the day, I had a room full of confident, comfortable coaches giving wonderful/insightful feedback to one another.

Two coaches listening as the observer gives feedback on their role-play

This experience further strengthened my belief that feeling awkward (not for too long of course) is the best signal of learning. As this group of 20 coaches spans 8 cohorts of HAP trainings (with several of the early members later providing supervision to the newer members), they were more than comfortable giving the tough-to-hear feedback and helping each other improve.